Evil: Fear of the Future

“Just so you know, this is hurtful.”

I don’t know what to make of this episode. The arrival of Ellie was so exciting! It seemed like Evil had an endgame, and one that might even set the cancelled show up for a new, slightly rebooted season in another parish on another streaming service.

Here's where I thought this episode was going: Ellie’s story was correct. The particle accelerator was really important. Timothy might be the Antichrist, but not for another twenty-odd years. The new season would solve the present-day problems but provide an opportunity for a new spin on them with flashforwards to the future.

But Ellie/Laura’s story was a lie. She’s Andy’s new flame, and she’s crazy. Anna Chlumsky did a great job of seeming like an amazing new friend for Kristin, at least on the first watch. On second watch, you can start to see the cracks show, like how she said “Ben the Magnificent” so bitterly. What had Andy told his girlfriend about Ben? He’s always seemed jealous of how Ben stepped in when he was gone. In a different way from how he’s jealous of David, of course.

The lie of it all makes this episode, like a few others this season, full of stuff that either doesn’t seem too worthwhile to talk about or so disjointed that I don't know what to make of it. What seems most important isn’t the Antichrist or an apocalypse or anything like that, since we made no progress there.

The most important thing is the fallout from Andy's decision to cheat on Kristin. While wearing their animal sex masks! Why did he bring those to the hospital in the first place?!

Sure, Leland’s (and Sheryl’s) actions have made Andy more “suggestible.” But we saw Andy able to resist killing his daughter, and he was under hypnotic suggestion then. In the hospital, though? Was Leland somehow controlling him or was Andy just spiraling? He said the affair “wasn’t intentional.” Do I care? Not too much. It’s hard to be invested in a marriage defined by absence.

I am invested in Kristin though. Obviously. My goodness: her mother died, she acquired a new baby, and she found out her husband cheated on her, all in the space of a few days. I know she’s been good at bottling up her emotions all season—and possibly is infected with the little grief demon we met a few episodes ago—but she’s going to have to reckon with her disasters soon. The night terrors are a symptom of not doing so. One good cry with Ben and one good hug with David is not enough to deal with this.

Even George likes to watch the show! Why cancel it?

In one of the recordings of Kristin's long-ago therapy sessions with Dr. Boggs, she mentioned that if her daughter died she would need to have another baby immediately. The final scene, with her rocking Timothy, made me think she's going to pour her grief into the new baby. Is that... healthy?

Oh, and she lost her job.

The archdiocese’s decision to promote David to the position of doing two things (parish priest and assessor), then pulling the rug out from under him (canceling the assessor program) seems like the ultimate bait-and-switch. David was right about the “Black bluff”: “They suddenly promote a Black person to a position of power when there’s no power left.”

Did they lie to Father Ignatius, too, just so he wouldn’t protest? Did they know to never go up against a Jesuit when the apocalypse is on the line?

Ben and David’s conversation about whether they could move to another parish feels a lot like the show’s attempt to get picked up by another streaming service. Katja Herbers has been vocal about promoting the show on social media. (This article has an interesting wrap-up of how complicated the filming was for the last few episodes.)

In his conversation with Ben about why he didn't want to quit the priesthood for Kristin, David said “Then I am the Middle Ages, because I am sick of all the broken promises in this world, and all the other shit.” I wonder if that, too, is a subtle–or not so subtle–dig at being canceled.

It was really about Kristin, of course. I’m not 100% sure David’s choice to stay in the priesthood (for now) is the right one, but it’s such a great mission statement for the character. He just wants integrity in himself and others. It’s such a basic desire, and one that is so often unfulfilled.

What the Hell?:

• Ben: “That’s a very weird reason to come back in time.”
• Kristin: “Five! I’ve got five kids!” A friend of mine recently had a third kid and says "I have three kids!" in an astonished voice quite often.
• Kristin: “My kids are so smart!”
• The opening scene, with the fade-to-black transitions checking in with each character, made me expect a very different kind of episode, like “Conversations with Dead People.” The only real difference, however, was that there was no official assessment case.
• So, whenever Leland tries to inhabit David, he hears “Stars and Stripes Forever”? That’s amazing punishment. In my early 20s, I worked in a 24-hour dive bar with a jukebox that, for some ungodly reason, had an entire album of John Philip Sousa. You know who thinks playing an entire album of John Philip Sousa’s work is a good idea? Drunk people.
• The joyful celebration of Sheryl’s life at the reception reminded me of some of the funerals on Six Feet Under.
• This is sorta random, but you know how I know that the KristinDemon that haunts David is a real demon and not a projection of his unconscious desires? Because I don’t think he’s creepy enough to be into the Catholic schoolgirl look.
• The judge at Leland’s second hearing was played by Richard Kind. (Just in case you went, “Oh, that guy!” but, like me, had no idea what his name was.)
• Nice to see the Tasers and airhorns come into play.

I guess I had plenty to say about this episode, but everything feels fragmented and on pause, like one of those days where you have a bunch of projects to do but wind up only doing parts of each of them.

I still love this show, even though it constantly frustrates me. I’m not sure about the rating. Maybe:

Two and a half out of four poisoned onesies?

Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)

• Evil season 4
• Evil home